Cardiac Arrest

Because of its sudden nature, you should immediately contact 911 if you or someone else is experiencing symptoms of cardiac arrest. Immediate treatment for cardiac arrest may involve:

• CPR - Involves repeated compressions of the chest performed by another individual. This can help maintain blood and oxygen flow to vital organ systems within the body until more advanced treatment or help is available.
• Defibrillation - A device called a defibrillator sends an electrical shock through the chest to the heart. This can stabilize an individual by restoring a normal heartbeat. First responders and medical personnel can use a defibrillator. However, these devices are also available in certain public spaces, like schools and exercise facilities, to treat a person experiencing cardiac arrest until emergency services arrive.
• Medications - A combination of CPR and life support medications may be given to patients who have experienced cardiac arrest

Once a cardiac arrest patient is brought to the hospital, treatment methods may include:

• TTM - Involves reducing an individual's core body temperature to minimize the potential damage caused by hypoxia or lack of sufficient oxygen in the blood and tissues to sustain bodily functions
• Oxygen therapy - A doctor can recommend this to supplement the amount of oxygen in your body after cardiac arrest. Your heart may be weakened after such an incident, which can result in your body not getting the amount of oxygen it needs. This can be administered through a mask or nasal cannula (tubes that rest inside the nose) or intubation.
• ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation -Involves pumping blood to a heart-lung machine to remove carbon dioxide from the blood and return oxygenated blood back into the body. This can be used to assist your heart and lungs in delivering oxygen to your tissues.
• Percutaneous left ventricular device - May be used as an alternative to ECMO. These devices are connected to the circulatory system by inserting tubes into a femoral artery and can help the heart to work until it has been repaired.

Long-term treatment methods can be used to reduce the risk of having another cardiac arrest episode. These may include:

• Medications - Including anti-arrhythmic drugs such as beta-blockers or ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors
• ICDs - Devices implanted under the skin, usually in the chest. They monitor an individual's heartbeat and can sense potentially dangerous abnormalities in your heart rhythm. The ICD can deliver electrical impulses to help your normal heartbeat to continue if complications or irregularities are detected.
• Coronary angioplasty - This procedure opens up arteries that are clogged or narrowed. It involves inserting a catheter into the blocked blood vessel with a balloon on its tip. This balloon is then inflated, pressing the blood clot or plaque against the artery's sides, allowing blood flow to increase. Learn more about how we've expanded our cardiac catheterization practice.
• Coronary bypass surgery - Allows blood flow to be redirected around a blocked artery in your heart. This procedure uses a blood vessel taken from another part of the body and connects it so that blood flow can be rechanneled around the blockage.
• Catheter ablation - Involves electrode catheters being guided through your veins to various positions in the heart. The electrodes then either use cold temperatures (cryoablation) or radiofrequency waves (radiofrequency ablation) to burn tissue and block abnormal electrical impulses in the heart that may lead to cardiac arrest.
• Corrective heart surgery - May be recommended to mend faulty valves, diseased or damaged heart tissue, or congenital heart deformities to reduce the risk of cardiac arrest due to life-threatening arrhythmias